Thursday, February 27, 2014

It is Wacky Tacky Dr. Seuss Hair Day at school today - Red Crested Triceratops and blue mohawk boys! And, the flash gave evil eyes for special effects. I know my “evil boys” loved that.

Shamefully stolen from Amy’s FB page. Give those strange critters some smooches from Grammie. I miss those ragamuffins…and their girlie cuzins, too.

We have a bit more rain in store for us today. MM spread a little more concrete in a couple of low places yesterday, trying to even out some places that hold water. Oh, Mosquito Man got a call from the park office about the mosquito problem we’ve reported..and still have. They found a small holding tank next door at the water park that had a pool of water inside, and LOTS of mosquitos and larvae. Now fixed! Relief is near…we hope.

Last night we had dinner with Jimmy and Cathy, friends from waaay back. So good getting to see them every winter…and having FB contact for the rest of the year.

Today brings Steve and Bev from Mayberry down here boat shopping, and dinner with us. Love it! We’ll help y’all shop for a boat! Srsly.

We are getting taxes and other boring, normal stuff done. I need to put “stuff” away today. It doesn’t take much to clutter up a small space, and we both need to de-clutter. Pronto. This is a good chore for a rainy day, as opposed to wasting good sunshine on a pretty day, right?

Whatever you do, check your hair and have yourselves a ginger peachy day today. It’s the only day you have, my friends, so make it a great one!

Monday, February 24, 2014

Thanks to our neighbor, we have a photo of our free tree there on the R…and proof that MM will wear a suit when he has to wear one. Our neighbor was impressed that MM even has a suit in a moho! The neighbor is new and doesn’t know we have a cruising habit. My outfit is old (I wore it for sure on the first blogger’s cruise), but it rides well in the closet and is ready to cruise again. Soon.

The banquet was absolutely fabulous, and MM got up in front of the whole crowd and did a little reminiscing about our church in the days before A/C, expansions, etc. It was great fun. Fr. Paul acknowledged it as Dick’s birthday, but told him after church on Sunday NOT to expect a celebration like that next year! Shucks. It will be a big number that rolls around then.

So today’s major chore will be to get a set of hearing aids programmed. Yes, MM has (long needed) aids, bless his heart. He has had too many hours of noisy airplanes, beginning back in his Coast Guard days of long ago, running noisy equipment (from high school age), and doing target shooting, etc. Noise cancelling devices have definitely improved over the years, and the new aids will help to maintain the ability still left in his old ears (according to audio dude). I’m sure MM will use the volume control to his advantage. Beware: I know (wifely) sign speak!

Have yourselves a ginger peachy day, my friends. Life is as good as you make it!

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Boyfriend and my fisherman! Yep, he caught and brought home dinner last night, and boy was it good on the grill…along with some grilled cabbage. Umm, good!

He’s a keeper!

While he was gone, the two kitties managed to escape. Apparently I didn’t quite get the screen door latched, and they snuck out and made a run for the great outdoors when opportunity struck. I’m docking their pay because they were supposed to be helping me, the slackers.

I didn’t see a kitty anywhere. I called and called. No response, no kitty on either pad next to us.

Repeat the above.

Finally, Missy meows and comes to me and gets dumped back inside, but still no KC. I call for him again, and hear him answer me! He’s such a dork. Every time I called his name, he meowed back and finally came out from his hiding place up under the moho, out of sight. The stinker.

Then he sat by the door, meowing to go out again. All afternoon. It doesn’t appeal to him today, since there is too much noise going on. Serves him right!

So tonight we are getting all gussied up and going to a fancy banquet fund raiser for our church here to celebrate its 100 year anniversary. MM’s family joined in ‘53 (I came along in ‘68), so we have a long history there. Good history.

So, MM is another year older, and we are all in good health, have a roof over our heads, food on our table, and love to share. Life doesn’t get much better than that.

We are blessed…and thankful…and hope you can say the same thing. Happy sunny Saturday, y’all!

Friday, February 21, 2014

No fish for my two cleaning assistants, but hopefully MM will bring something home for our dinner. He is out fishing with a group of guys, which leaves me without wheels at the Moho.

I will survive.

Yesterday I laid claim to the wheels, needing to go shopping for some strappy, snazzy evening shoes. Of course I came home with everything BUT shoes, exciting stuff like cotton balls, cereal, phone charger...no pretty shoes.

We are going to a semi-formal banquet tomorrow night. Maybe no one will look at my feet. Oh well. It is no big deal. I do have sparkly flats I can wear. I am not concerned about the fashion police attending, that is for sure.

So my stacked crockpot (Pinterest) dinner was moderately successful. I layered pork chops on the bottom of the pot, dumped BBQ sauce over the top to them, layered golden potatoes inside tin foil and places on top of the chops, then tin-foil wrapped fresh brussel sprouts.

That was the problem. The recipe said to butter, salt and pepper them, and tightly seal. I did. They were dry. Tender, but d.r.y. More butter? Add water? EVOO? Don't tightly seal? Hmmm. Back to the drawing board.

Jeanie Weanie, let me know if you try it...and do it differently. It was a great idea, but it needs tweaking. It would be good with broccoli, too. BTW, if you need to layer your chops, put foil between the layers, otherwise they stick together. Trust me.

So that's your cooking tip for today. What's cooking at your house tonight?

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The handy dandy automatic saw made for a straight cut on the damaged edge.

Two pieces of rebar, about 10 bags of mix, and a lot of sweat equity for MM later produced the basically finished new edge. I kept him hydrated and cleaned up the mess. It was the least I could do, right?

MM removed the board he used for the concrete edge this morning and is now out there back filling the edge with dirt he saved. We can drive over it in about a month, which fits nicely with our travel plans.

Any questions?

The mosquito situation here seems a bit better, so we will be enjoying the patio (we hope) today. Dinner is out there slow cooking already. More on that if we like this new recipe.

The weather is absolutely beautiful. Life is good. WYWH! Dinner is around 6, if you are brave.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Since I am on a family roll, here are the other kids at Macey’s confirmation…that we missed:

Y’all clean up pretty good. Miss ya bunches!

Thanks for sending me these photos from Sunday, Haley.

So we had a noisy day yesterday with all that jack hammering, but that’s OK. Those pavers are going next door, not on our lot, and it will be pretty when it is finished. MM is just doing a concrete repair on ours. He was pretty tired last night after all his shoveling, and toting, and stuff. It will be worth his efforts when he is finished. I’ll post photos when all the stuff is done. Or progress is made. Or something.

So what are we doing today? Well, heading to (quiet)John G’s in a few minutes! The workers just arrived.

Monday, February 17, 2014

KC and Missy are staying back from their window observation spots with all that jack hammering noise going on next door.

MM decided today would be a good day to install our light pole. And he will pay those worker guys to cut off a cracked edge of our patio. It doesn't have any rebar inside, so heavy rigs have cracked it badly. Plus, it needs enlarging anyway since use constantly destroys the grass. That will be a chore for another day though.

Mosquito Man found a possible breeding ground yesterday for the pesky critters. A picnic table was upside down on a lot a few doors away, holding lots of slimy water. No more! We shall see if that helps.

We are expecting a gorgeous week, according to the weather report. WYWH! You'll find us on the patio.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

We had a great time with the Tieche clan last night. They had several folks over for dinner and a visit with Christine and Will last night. After living in Hawaii for several months already, that FL gal is finding the local weather quite chilly.

One of the hazards of living in WPB for the winter is that we miss events back in Mayberry (of course we miss the people!). Sweet Macey is being confirmed today, and Grumps and I aren’t there. She knows we love her and is OK with our physical absence. Our hearts are there with her. Absolutely!

MM is still battling mosquitoes here on this site. He can’t find the source of where they are breeding, but THEY are sure finding us…so much so that we aren’t enjoying sitting outside for very long. Bugger to that. He is trying a new spray, bought from the box store yesterday. We’ll see how the battle goes…and who wins.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Our neighbor is putting in new landscape and fancying up their pad. He had a tree in the way and offered it to us. You bet we want!

MM got the hole started yesterday with their shovel, but is letting the guys finish the hole today, since he doesn't have a shovel (with us) nor work boots (thank goodness). We can't have him ruining perfectly good flip flops! Let the guys use their knees and backs, and give them some "green" for their work.

Of course a PVC line needs fixing, but MM can get that done quite easily. More photos are currently delayed.

Boy, is it windy today, but still far better than what the NE is getting with PAX...still.

Mayberry news is strep throat for Amy and Jason. Will the wee boys get it? Hope not. And Macey is now sporting hardware:

That mouth is a little hurt-y now after a couple of days of wearing, but a healthy mouth is the great (eventual) reward.

Can Spring get here soon? Winter has lost its charm (if it ever existed).

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

And the National Guard has come to Mayberry to offer assistance in any way. The governor even called our commissioner to check up on our county. Way to go, Gov! Hopefully the storm will not as harsh as the last one was…and folks will stay off the roads.

I just got off the phone with Haley (they are fine; still have power), and the flakes changed to sleet while we were talking. Ice on power lines and roads is where problems develop, not the snow.

Amy has a sinus infection; Jason has flu-like symptoms. The wee boys are fine…so far. Brian and his girls are fine. I feel better after talking to all of the kids. That part of being a mom never changes, no matter how old (and capable) the kids are. They humor me when I get in mom-mode. Smart kids!

So it is fine here in WPB. Dick and Johnnie have gone to kick a few tires, doing their “guy thing.” I called dibs on the car this afternoon, needing to run a couple of small errands.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Haley's yard is white. School is closed (because of ice, not because of the snow). It is cold.

Nothankyou, when we can have this:

Shorts and flip flops...or long pants and boots?

What do you pick?

On a positive note, I just heard on the news that the local power and light folks are sending trucks up to GA today to help with the clean up if needed, hoping to avoid the gridlock that happened with the recent snow storm there.

Our Mayberry commissioner is on top of the situation there with salt, gravel, trucks, and snow plows at the ready. Thanks, Lamar and the road crew! Keep my kids and friends safe.

Monday, February 10, 2014

MM getting numbed up to have two spots removed. His modeling career may be over. We shall see.

Phew-y. The spots have been zapped.

Be glad this blog does not offer smell apps. Zapped flesh is not pleasant.

He had two different C types, but they were baby bad boys and probably won't return. Probably, but we will definitely keep a watch on them.

Over and out. Heading back to the Moho to have a lovely Monday...and watch the weather, especially in Mayberry where another storm is expected. Winter has gotten seriously annoying this year! Be careful.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

We had a nice lunch out with Bill and Barbara on the intracoastal waterway yesterday and enjoyed watching all the boat traffic. And a couple of quick but hard rain showers. More liquid sunshine expected today.

So my Moho printer finally let me down yesterday. It was probably close to 10 years old, so it was time to retire it. You would think, but no, MM worked on it (unsuccessfully), so we checked out the local thrift store in search of one like it for parts...but no luck. Aw shucks.

I have a new wireless printer!

May the old printer RIP. We can print again. Hallelujah. Back in business.

It's the little things that keep me happy. And efficient.

How's your day?

We have a park board meeting in a few minutes, then I am off to the ATT store for a new SIM card for my iPad.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

She says it was 28 years ago, but it was a just a wee bit longer ago than that when I was in labor on this very day. This gal was worth every labor pain I endured, and has been a blessing (mostly!) ever since.

Happy birthday to our baby girl. I know you are enjoying your birthday season. Party on! You just get better each year.

So what is going on in the land of sunshine, you ask? Well, two kitties are sleeping slugs, my boyfriend has gone off to play Mechanic Man with friend Dickie B on the fancy car Dickie is restoring (I posted about it last month). That March deadline for finishing it is rapidly approaching, so MM thought he would go see if he could help speed the work along. He’s a keeper.

With MM gone, that leaves me car-less, so I am taking this day to (reluctantly) clean off my desk (yes, that goes on no matter where we are), and do the ever-boring laundry duty.

Excitement. We haz it.

If you need me, you can find me outside on the patio reading in about 13 minutes.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

But we are enjoying our evenings with the family and friends. Scott, Holly and the kids joined us for dinner, along with friends Tom and Dixie. The pork tenderloin I cooked all day in the crockpot was quite tasty.

A little Rummikub...a little shopping. We are managing entertaining ourselves. We hope we will eventually see real sunshine.

There was just enough food leftover to go back and finish it all up tonight and say our goodbyes to Don and Carolyn. We head south to WPB tomorrow. It's been fun, but we need to hit the road. Be warned--we will be back!